


Recovery

by Preath_Sohara_Kellex_OhMy



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: ACL Tear, Chicago Red Stars, Established Relationship, F/F, Long-Distance Relationship, NWSL, Portland Thorns, Serious Injuries, USWNT, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-21 06:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9536747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Preath_Sohara_Kellex_OhMy/pseuds/Preath_Sohara_Kellex_OhMy
Summary: She has the briefest moment of clarity, this agonizing realization that something is terribly wrong. She had thought of the possibility of just being out a game or two for the sprained MCL or whatever was aching in her knee. She doesn't expect it to hit her like this,  because what the doctor just told her is a major injury. The thought that she'll be out for months, possibly even a year, feels like a semi slamming headlong right into her chest. All she can think about is how all of the hard work and effort that she's put in for years is torn apart the second the defender decided to make that challenge and the moment the doctor confirmed her worst fears.Christen Press tears her ACL the first game of the season.





	1. Chapter 1

Christen tears her ACL the first game of the season. They’re playing Kansas City on a picture perfect midwestern evening as the sun is beginning it’s descent. Swope Soccer Village is filled with people cheering on the blues and the first 28 minutes go smoothly. The game’s competitive and there are clear chances on both sides of the field.

The injury starts (Christen assumes) when she jumps to make a header that directs the ball further up the field. She feels a slight twinge in her left knee when she lands but doesn’t think much of it because she does land a bit awkwardly onto the field. DiBernardo gives her an almost perfect ball slotted through Kansas City’s center back and right back, and it’s when Christen makes a looping run behind FCKC’s defense to get on the end of the ball that she feels a slight ache in her knee. She sprints ahead of Desiree Scott and looks across the box quickly to see her options. She just releases the ball of of her foot when the defender slams into her planted leg. She feels a sharp twist right where her knee already aches and she starts to cave in. She watches as the ball skips towards the top of the box – and then she collapses.

It's like one moment she's standing, and the next her knee is buckling and twisting as she falls to the ground. She doesn’t register release of a held in breath from the crowd as Steph’s shot narrowly misses the frame of the goal. She doesn’t register the small beads of blood that begin to form on the trail that Scott’s cleats made on her upper calf. She doesn’t register the whistle being blown or the fact that people have started to realize that she’s on the ground. She vaguely registers a popping sound and wonders if she had just imagined it before she’s quickly overwhelmed by the intense pain spreading up her leg.

She curls into the field muffling her screams as the pain becomes too much. She pounds her fist into the turf as pain shoots up her leg into the junction of her knee. She feels like all the blood in her body is rushing to her head and she can feel herself start to black out.

_Breathe._

The shaky breath that she takes makes her head spin and she tries her best to establish a good breathing pattern to calm herself down – In through her nose, out through her mouth. And she can't help but feel frustrated because she does this exercise for 20 minutes every morning of her life and the moment she needs a calm peace she can't find it.

“Are you okay?” She feels a hand on her back as Becky realizes the state that she's in. That’s when the tears start. Christen starts to shake as Becky starts to frantically wave the trainers over. “Hey, it's going to be fine. You're going to be fine.” Christen nods as she tries to calm herself down once again.

The athletic trainer is kneeling by her side in an instant. Kelsey rolls her onto her back gently. “Can you locate me to where the pain is?”

“Left knee.”

Kelsey gingerly stretches out her knee and asking if it hurts, which – obviously it hurts, and she feels like she's going to throw up or pass out or both.

“There’s quite a bit of swelling. What is the pain like? Is it a dull pain? A sharp pain?”

“Sharp.” Christen winces as Kelsey moves her knee once again. “Definitely sharp but slightly achey. It feels like I just took a sledgehammer to my knee.”

“Did you hear anything before or when you went down?” Kelsey is now softly prodding just below her kneecap trying to palpate for possible indications of what the injury might be.

Christen tries to think back. “I don't know. It all happened so fast… I think I might've but I'm not a hundred percent sure.”

Kelsey nods. “I'm going to do an anterior drawer test. But I need you to relax your leg and your knee as much as possible okay?”

Christen nodded trying to get the tension to leave her body.

“C’mon. C’mon” Kelsey loosely and gently shook Christens leg trying to get it so all of the weight was with her. “Relax. You're going to be okay… Breathe. Relax. C’mon. That's it. Good.” She felt more weight in her hands as Christen relaxed her leg. She put Christen’s foot on the ground before a quick, soft pull on her leg. Kelsey frowned slightly “That's not good.” She muttered quietly to herself.

“What?”

She looked at Christen grimley, “I couldn't get the best read on your knee because of all the swelling.” She signaled to the sideline. Someone rolls over a stretcher, and 4 people try to lift her onto it before Kelsey waves them off. “She's got it.”

“Coming out of the match for the Chicago Red Stars is #23, Christen Press. Entering the match for the Chicago Red Stars in the 32nd minute is #27 Michele Vasconcelos.” Christen glanced to the sideline where she saw the rookie suited up and ready to go.

“I need you to let me take your left leg okay. I'll steady it so when you move it'll be out of harm's way and possible contact okay?”

Christen nods. She lets out a gasp in pain as she shifts her butt onto the stretcher. Kelsey moves her leg as Christen does. _Shit. Shit. Shit. This hurts_. She shuts her eyes in an attempt to block out the pain.

“Okay we're gonna strap this leg down okay?” Kelsey slowly begins to strap the leg in place. They raise the stretcher and set up the guard rails before they roll her off the pitch.

“We need to take her to the hospital,” Kelsey didn’t look up at the paramedic who was wheeling Christen away. “ I need to grab a few things and then we can be on our way. I’ll be quick.”

Christen’s eyes snap open in panic. _Hospital? Oh my god. Hospital means it’s bad. Which means that I’ll have surgery. Which means I’ll be out for months. Which means that–_

She looks around at the crowd where almost all of them have started to focus back on the game that has resumed. She catches a few people stare at her remorsefully before they look away and focus towards the game behind her. She turns her head as much as she can to catch a glimpse of the field to watch her team continue to play.

“Hey.”

Christen snaps her head back around. “Oh hey Rory.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. We’re gonna get you back out here as soon as possible okay?”

Christen smiles and nods.

Some calls Rory’s name back near the bench and he’s gone as suddenly as he appears and the smile that Christen had plastered on her face for all of 2 seconds vanishes as well. She watches as Kelsey is runs around Chicago’s sideline grabbing things and talking animatedly to Chicago’s assistant athletic trainer and FCKC’s athletic trainer

She’s being lifted into the back of the ambulance and Kelsey joins her and the paramedics in the back.  
“Do you have a preferred hospital m’am?”

“St. Luke’s Hospital please.”

“The one on the Plaza? Or do you want St. Luke’s North or South instead.”

“I don’t know. Whatever hospital you would take FCKC too.”

“Plaza.”

“Sounds good.”

The paramedics closed the door. Two of them stayed in the back of the ambulance while two of them went to the front of the vehicle and the ambulance pulled out of it’s designated spot near the field, through the parking lot, and out onto the main road.

“Christen, we need to get the swelling down as much as possible okay? I’m going to put these ice packs on you. One underneath the knee and one on top and bandage it so it wraps around your knee okay?” She maneuvered the ice packs around her knee putting a thin towel in between the packs and her skin. “It protects the skin cells. Contact with Ice Packs are okay skin to skin if it’s only for a 2-3 minutes but since we’re icing the entire way to the Hospital which should only take about 15 minutes then we need to put a barrier.” She explained to Christen as she watched Kelsey start to ACE bandage wrap the ice around the injury. Kelsey watched Christen shivered as the ice packs began to make themselves known.

“I hate the cold.”

Kelsey just laughed. “I know, you tell me every time I force you to take an ice bath. It’s a good thing we only have only a few people from warmer climates on our team because it’s so so so fun trying to get you, and Julie, and Sam, and Taylor to get into the ice baths.” She winked at Christen.

Christen gave a small smile back before turning to one of the paramedics, “Why aren’t the lights and sirens on?”

“Ummmm. It’s not really an emergency m’am. This is probably a class 5 emergency and we usually don’t bust out the lights and sirens unless it’s a serious trauma.”

“Oh I get it.” _Maybe it’s not actually that bad. Maybe this is just precautionary or something. I don’t know. What happens when other people go down and have to get stretched off?_

The ambulance went over a small pothole in the road. The small disruption shifted Christen’s body a little bit causing her to grimace, “Holy effff.”

“Hey guys, I may need you to slow down a bit… Her knee is really sensitive and just that little pothole was hard for her. So as smooth as possible please. If that means going a little bit slower it's fine.”

The rest of the ride is almost painless for Christen.

They eventually arrive to the hospital where Christen is rolled out of the ambulance and into the entryway of the ER.

Kelsey unwraps the ice packs off of Christen. “It's better. But there's still a lot of swelling.” She frowns slightly at her knee. Then glances up at the forward, “At least it's down a little so the doctors can get a better read. I was hoping it'd be a little bit better but it’ll work.” Christen watches Kelsey thank the paramedics and then go talk to ER main desk and when she returns there's 2 new people with her.

“Hi! I'm Gina. You must be the Chicago Red Stars that called earlier? We’re going to send you up to Radiology. Have them scan and we have an OR set up just in case. This is Jacki. She's going to help get you guys around St. Luke's today. Okay? Does that sounds good?”

“That sounds great. Lead the way.”

Jacki lead them to the elevator. Waiting for Christen to be rolled in and pushed the elevator button up to the 4th floor.

-/-

Radiology wasn't awful like Christen expected. She just laid on the bed as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Machine swirled around her.

After she was done she just laid reclined in her stretcher as she watched the doctor talk to Jacki and Kelsey for a few minutes behind the glass before they all came out.

“Alright Press, we’re going to OR.” Kelsey started to roll Press back out into the hallway.

_OR? As in Operating Room?_

“Wait hold up.” Press held up her hand making Kelsey slowly stopped the stretcher as Jacki continued forward towards the elevator.” O.R. like as in Operating Room?”

Kelsey just nodded.

Oh my god. Oh my god. No. This can't be real. No.

“Your kidding right?”

“Unfortunately no, but we need to go there immediately. They've already have set up a room and you need to be there right now. We can answer your questions after.” Jacki pressed the button for the elevator. “It'll be fine. Don't worry.”

Kelsey rolled Press to the elevator and Jacki directed them to the O.R. The only thing hear the elevator gently move upwards, the entire car had fallen silent.

_How long is surgery? What surgery are they performing? Is it bad enough that they need to do it immediately. What's going on?_

Then everything happened so quickly. It felt as though they were in the O.R. for a fraction of a second before she was asked to change out of her uniform into a hospital gown. Jacki helped her change in the corner behind a curtain as Kelsey answered question after question about Christen’s medical history for the surgeon. When she got changed she was put onto the surgery bed, raised in a sitting position to make it easier for the 4 nurses that swarmed around her. One of them hooked up an EKG while another set up a fluid bag. Christen eyed a third un-packaging surgical equipment and laying them out on the table next to her.

“Her heart rate is going up!” One of the nurses glanced at Christen while pointing to the monitor.

“Are you okay Christen?” Kelsey looked at her worriedly. “You're going to be fine. It's okay this won't take long.” She patted the back of her hand before moving to sign some paperwork.

_No. Not okay. Those are the tools that they use for surgery. For my surgery. A surgery that I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting it for._

“We need to get these fluids into you okay? It's just some extra blood for your body to use. It makes the post-op healing easier and the operation smoother for you.” Someone stuck a needle into her arm and hooked it up to the fluid bag. “See that wasn't so bad. Okay we're going to do one more okay?”

_What are you doing? What's going on?_

Another nurse tilts her neck slightly to get a better read on the veins and sticks another needle in. She can hear the plunger slowly descend and feels the needle being pulled out from her skin.  
  
She looks around at the stainless steel and tile room surrounding her. The forgotten Red Stars jersey crumpled in the corner. The last thing she remembers is finally getting the courage to ask a question to whoever will listen but the drugs injected into her neck drag her under quickly.

 

* * *

 

Tobin grinned as the final whistle blew and the crowd roared its approval.

3 points. Not too shabby.

She laughed as Allie ran over to her.

“HARRRRYYYY!” Allie ruffled Tobin’s hair a little bit before continuing, “A game winning goal isn't the worst way to start 2017.”

Tobin just rolled her eyes. “It was the only goal Harry.”

“Still a game winner.”

Mark waved for them to make their way over to the Riveters as he tried to round up everyone else.

They laughed as everyone formed a line rocking their hands back and forth in front of the crowd. Tobin was given a rose to celebrate the goal she scored. And she shyly held it in the air as the fans cheered.

The line slowly broke down and one of the media staff quickly found his way to Tobin.

“Great game. Sorry to cut the celebration short but we need you for the press conference. I'm going to go get Nadia but start making your way over there okay? You can stop to sign a few things if you want but we're really trying to get you guys in and out so then the staff can clean up.”

“Sure. No big deal.”

She made her way towards the tunnel grinning slightly as people yelled her name. She stopped for a few fans signing a poster and a few jerseys before catching a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of a young fan. She approached the kid smiling as the little girl beamed back at her. “Hey you want this?” The little girl let out a small gasp in wonder before nodding her head enthusiastically. Tobin smiled while giving away her rose for a young fan whose untamed curly hair crept out in loose, black waves underneath her snapback. “I love your hair, It reminds me of one of my teammates on the US team.” The girl grinned wider. Tobin laughed softly before heading into the tunnel.

-/-

“Can you explain your reaction during the play and after scoring?”

“Uh. It wasn’t even me really. Nadia over there did all the work. I saw her shoot it and it kinda just fell right in front of me and I just had to make sure that I didn’t mess anything up.” Tobin grinned. “Actually with the spin of the ball it was kinda a difficult one to just pass in but it’s okay. We scored so it all worked out.”

“Just one quick last question. Congrats on being the US Women's National Player of the Year. Does that give you any added pressure to perform this year?”

“I don’t know. Not really. Last year was a really good year for me for both the National team and Thorns and I just want to build on my performances last season.”

Tobin rose out of her chair after thanking the media. She and Nadia made their way out of the room.. Nodding goodbye to the media still in the room as she exited the room and headed to the showers.

“Hey, a few people are coming over to my place to celebrate. Nothing too heavy just a couple drinks. This won’t be a KOH party.” Allie winks at her and Tobin just laughs.

“Okay I’ll be there. Just let me shower real quick.”

-/-

Tobin woke up shooting Christen a text first thing.

**Tobin - 9:14 am**

**[ Good morning! :) ]**

**Tobin - 9:14 am**

**[Sorry I didn’t call last night. I was hanging out at Allies with a few girls from the team. But I’ll call you when you want. I’m open all day so just shoot me a text.]**

She slowly stretched out her sore muscles before getting up to make herself some coffee.

She flipped on the TV onto SportsCenter before grabbing some eggs and vegetables to start making an omelette. She just removes it from the pan onto her plate and pours herself some coffee when the TV commentary shifts her focus.

“And Brad, how about this from Morgan Andrews in the home opener for Boston versus the Seattle Reign. Receives the ball and just weaves through the Reigns entire defense to pass it into the corner. She made that look easy and that a great start to the season she’ll be hoping to add a few more for her rookie campaign.”

"Absolutely Karissa. That is a fantastic finish for Andrews. She has her head up and just picks a spot right into the corner."

Tobin looked up across the kitchen to the living room at the screen where she watched Morgan dribble through the Reigns defense. Holding off Lauren Barnes to slot it inside the far post. The video follows Morgan as she goes to celebrate her goal by squaring up to the corner flag before punching it down.

"Do you want to take the Kansas City game? It was a good one!" 

Brad smiled into the camera. "Why not. Switching to Kansas City, Missouri where things were not so great for the home team, FCKC, as they lost 2-1 to the Chicago Red Stars.”

Tobin made her way across the apartment, grabbing the remote and turning up the volume.

“Around the 30th minute Press goes down. Chicago Red Stars have released a statement after the game last night concerning one of their star players saying: “We can confirm that (Christen) Press suffered an ACL tear versus FC Kansas City. She will be flying home with us tomorrow and remain a valuable part to this team and organization. We will be starting treatment as soon as possible once the surgery is performed in Chicago.” And this is a huge blow for the Red Stars, Christen Press finished last season as 3rd in the golden boot race for the NWSL and in the past two seasons has tallied 15 goals.”

Tobin watched the screen as the defender slammed into Christen. The cameraman followed the ball as Steph received it and took the shot making Tobin squint to the upper right hand corner of the screen. The video cut to another image of Christen pounding the grass as she howls in pain.

_Holy shit._

She stepped closer to the screen reaching up to trace the outline of Christen's face with a slightly trembling finger on the monitor. "Oh my God... Babe." She swallowed thickly.

"Now the Red Stars did win 2-1 versus Kansas City last night so is it possible that they will be okay without Christen Press? Is she replaceable on the team?"

"I think she is. When the US Women's National team went to Brazil last summer to compete in the Olympics they were missing Press and were still able to score. They were still able to create dangerous opportunities." 

"But Karissa, you can't discredit the experience that Press brings to this team... Sure the younger players who stepped in did good but you can't simply replace Christen Press."

"Christen is experienced and brings a lot to the Red Stars but they can survive without her and not only survive but still be able to get results. They're already replacing her for when the L.A.–"

Tobin reaches for her phone quickly calling Christen and groaning as it hit voicemail, "Hey it's Christen. Sorry I couldn't get to the phone right now but leave me a message and I'll get back to you!" Tobin trembled, She could feel her smile through the phone. 

“Hey. It’s me. I just found out what happened. Are you okay? I just want to check in on you. Call me back. Please. I Love you.”

**Tobin - 9:37 am**

**[I just heard the news. Call me as soon as you can please. I love you.]**

Still no answer. Tobin put down the phone before going back to the kitchen and staring at the omelette she made.

 

* * *

 

  
Christen wakes up in the hospital. There's a curtain drawn around the bed and two people talking in the corner. 

_Those are Red Stars jackets._

"Julie? Alyssa?" Christen asks, voice scratchy from lack of use. Both of the players turn to look at her, relief flooding their faces. Alyssa reaches for the bottle of water on the bedside table handing it to Christen. "How are you feeling?"

“Alright. A little tired. I don’t really remember…”

“Well, we played a game yesterday night…”

_I remember that. Wait. Yesterday night? How long have I been out for? How long have I been here?_

“And you went to play a ball across the box and I couldn't see that well since I was back in goal. All I could see that happened was one moment you were standing and the next you were just on the ground.”

"What happened?" Christen asks, but neither of them say anything right away. Hell. Julie won't even look at her.

"The doctor will explain it better than we can," Alyssa says. She's clearly avoiding the question, which only worries Christen further. "I'll go see if I can find her." Alyssa leaves, sliding the curtains back into place behind her. Christen turns to Julie, touching her arm with the hand not attached to the IV. "Jules," she pleads. Julie just shakes her head softly towards the ground.

"What happened?" Christen demanded.

And Julie _still_ won't look her in the eye. She reaches over and squeezes her blunt fingernails into the skin of her arm, refusing to relent until she tells her what the hell is going on. After a few moments, she surrenders.

"They think it's a torn ACL." It's so soft Christen almost doesn't catch it.

Tears start to well up in Christen's eyes. The entire world seems to freeze in that moment. Clearly Julie misheard whoever or wherever she heard that from because there's no way she can have a torn ACL – if she has a torn ACL, then she can't play soccer. And Christen has never not played soccer. So. Julie just misheard, that is all.

"Good to see you're awake, Christen. How are we feeling?"

Christen snaps her head up to look behind JJ and the semi-open curtain and towards the door where Alyssa has come back with a woman in a navy scrubs and a white coat. She's carrying a clipboard, and the badge clipped to her pocket reads _Marilyn Montgomery, M.D_. Christen wastes no time and cuts to the chase:

"What's wrong with my leg? Julie said it was a torn ACL. Is that true?"

Marilyn Montgomery, M.D. sighs, takes a step closer, and says, "Yes, you've torn your left ACL. While you were unconscious, we removed the fluid within your knee, but it's still pretty swollen. In about a week to two weeks, once the swelling has gone down, we'll need to perform corrective surgery to return you to your original level of activity. That surgery for a normal tear will be followed by anywhere from six to nine months of physical therapy."

“So the surgery I had last night didn’t repair my ACL?”

“No. We had to reduce the swelling in your knee. Three of the bursa sacs in your knee ruptured which is unusual by itself. It made your knee inflamed and put more pressure onto your already damaged ligaments. So we drained the fluid that was building up."

“Wait. Normal?”

“The way that you damaged your ACL is pretty severe.”

_Of course it is._

“Severe how?”

“You have what we call a ACL Avulsion.” She hands Christen a x-ray and an MRI.

"When did I get an x-ray. I only went and did an MRI."

"When we went in to clear out your knee we saw the breakage and saw that we needed to get an x-ray as well. We did it while you were unconscious."

"Oh."

"What's an ACL Avulsion? Is that different than an ACL tear?"

“No. Your ACL is torn. Pretty severely as well. A ACL Avulsion is pretty rare and occurs more in children though it is not common for it to happen to adults it does occur. When you played last night and tore your ACL, the force of the tear made the lateral side of your tibia where your ACL anchors into the bone break.”

“So I broke my Tibia?”

“Only partially. It isn’t even the technical bone just the eminence. The best way to describe it is the spongy shell that covers the top of the Tibia. The actual break was minor but when we reduced the swelling we covered the break so until you have surgery it will be a little less painful. We will have to perform corrective measures when your knee is safe to heavily operate on.”

“Okay. What about soccer? National Team & NWSL?”

"You should be able to pick it back up after the physical therapy is complete, but – "

"That's like nine months from now!"

"It'll probably actually be closer ten to fourteen. Your coaches and therapists are going to make sure that you’re doing everything correctly and not straining anything by doing too much. But it could be shorter depending on how you react to therapy.”

"I can't just stop playing soccer for over a year. The season just started."

"I'm sorry, Christen, but I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do. If you work your knee too hard before it's finished healing, then you might never play soccer to the level that you could achieve before if you rush things. You'll need to follow the standard schedule from your staff to ensure a proper healing process."

Christen turns away, staring out the window and willing herself not to cry. At least, not in front of her teammates and this stranger who has just taken away any chance at returning to the field for a year. Marilyn Montgomery, M.D., however, continues to speak, "On the bright side, you're free to go back to the hotel where your team is. I'm going to leave this packet of instructions with your trainer and I want you to keep in mind R.I.C.E. – Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Make sure not to exert yourself or your knee and you'll be fine. Your teammates brought you some fresh clothes, the clothes you were brought in wearing are at the end of the bed, and there are crutches for you to use. Kelsey called your family and notified them of your condition and I have conferred with Kelsey and we have scheduled an appointment back in Chicago where a doctor will judge the swelling of your knee, and if everything looks good an appointment will be scheduled for a surgery date with your doctors in Chicago. If you or Kelsey have any questions or concerns, just call and we'll get it all sorted out. Okay?"  
Christen hears Dr. Montgomery leave the room, but she still refuses to face either of her teammates. She just continues to stare out the window as tears begin to streak down her face.

She had thought of the possibility of just being out a game or two for the sprained MCL or whatever was aching in her knee. She doesn't expect it to hit her like this, because what the doctor just told her is a major injury, a rare one, and the thought that she'll be out for months, possibly over a year, feels like a semi slamming headlong right into her chest. All she can think about is how all of the hard work and effort that she's put in for the past few years is torn apart the second the defender decided to make that challenge and the moment the doctor confirmed her worst fears. That’s when she begins to sob and she starts to shake uncontrollably. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one was kinda rushed. I have been soooo extremely busy and I wanted to update it the next one will definitely be up soon. I'm just working some stuff out. Sorry if this chapter is really shitty.... I've just been busy.

The plane lands in Chicago and Christen is the last one to get off the plane. She's not very good at using the crutches at first, and Kelsey keeps a hand on the small of her back to steady her as Christen shifts uneasily. “We’re heading straight the garage.”

 

“What about my suitcase?”

 

“One of your teammates will get it.” 

 

They move as slow as molasses, it seems, but eventually they reach the front doors and Christen looks up to see Julie already waiting in her car, tapping her thumbs absentmindedly on the steering wheel until she notices them. The suddenly, racing out of the driver's seat  as fast as she can to open the passenger side door for her.

 

The nurses gave her some pain medication to take every few hours and the one she took before the flight must be wearing off, because her knee is starting to hurt again. The pain has reached a dull roar by the time Julie pulls next to the curb in front of her apartment building. She helps her out of the car before she hands Christen her crutches and helps steady her.

 

"Do you want me to come in with you? Do you need help getting to the door?" she asks. Her eyes are wide and earnest as she keeps her hands resting lightly on her elbows as Christen gets out of the incase she gets unstable. She's been nothing but helpful throughout the whole situation so far, and she's so unbelievably grateful for it, but it's starting to suffocate her. Christen has never been great at accepting help, and she's just about reached her limit.

 

"No. I should probably get used to using these on my own, anyway," she says, gesturing towards her crutches.

  
  


Rory gives Christen the rest of the week off from training. She's still feeling intense pain and all of the drugs she has to take to get rid of said pain make her incredibly drowsy. She finally gets her charger to charge her dead phone that was left in her duffle and she spends most of the day fading in and out of sleep on the couch, a marathon of Law and Order constantly on the TV in the background with a game ready sleeve on her knee to reduce the swelling. She answers texts from her family and friends and from tobin as she lounges on the couch assuring them that she’s fine. She still figuring out how to go about her daily routine without the use of one entire leg. Putting on pants is nearly impossible, so she sticks to gym shorts. Showering, on the other hand, is  _ completely  _ out of the question. Once the air around her begins to turn stale, she spritzes herself with some of her perfume and sprays a hefty amount of dry shampoo on her greasy roots. It’s killing Christen but she knows she’s going to have to either take a shower or bathe and she has yet to figure out how to get that done.

 

On Thursday, when Christen finally returns to the training facilities, Julie still helps her getting in and out of her car when she comes to pick up Christen.  In which, Christen thanks her endlessly and promises to make it up to her, Julie just waves it off claiming that they’re literally going to the same place since she has training. Christen’s hair is slightly damp from the shower that she finally learned how to balance and shower at the same time without spilling  _ too  _ much water. 

 

She shows up to the facility where Kelsey sits her with a heat pack for a few minutes. “Looks like you’ve been icing. That makes this so much easier.” 

 

Christen smiled back, “What are we doing today?”

 

“I’m just going to test your range of motion. Just to record it and when you get back from Surgery we have a baseline to go off of.” Kelsey removes the heat pack. “I’m going to need you to slid down a little bit. So your feet are just hanging off the table.” 

 

Kelsey tested her knee out. Stretching and pulling to see how much pressure Christen’s knee could take and Christen was dying. Trying not to give in too much to the pain that accompanied Kelsey’s tests. 

 

_ This woman may seem bubbly and friendly on the outside, but Jesus. This hurts. _

 

“Okay we’re all done!” 

 

Christen nodded as her knee throbbed. “So what happens now?”

 

“Your knee is in pretty decent shape for Range of Motion. It’s obviously not what it was before but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. We can actually schedule you for surgery this week. Are you available on Monday morning? Around 8?”

 

“Yeah, that should work.”  

 

“Great! I’ll schedule you and send you the information in your email. I can’t send it today but I’ll send it after the game tomorrow or this weekend.”

 

“Okay sounds good.”

 

Julie finished training and is waiting in the lobby for Christen scrolling mindlessly through her phone. “Oh hey, how’d it go?”

 

Christen shrugged, “Good, I guess. I’m going to have my surgery monday.”

 

“That’s great! You’re going to do fine besides you’re totally ahead of schedule if they are already letting you get surgery!”

 

“I guess.”

  
  


Christen sits on the couch watching the TV. Cheering on her team. 

 

“C’mon Steph!” 

 

She watches her teammates on the screen pass the ball smoothly around the Boston defenders.

 

_ I should be there. _

 

“Play her in! Play her in!”

 

_ I shouldn’t be sitting on the couch. I should be playing! _

 

She watched as another shot was put wide of the target.

 

_ I can’t watch this… _

  
  


She flips it to the Thorns game and laughs as the image of Allie jumping on Lindsey’s back fills her screen.  

 

Her phone dings while she is looking down, and her breath catches in her throat. 

 

***New Email***

**Subject: FWD: Surgery Appointment**

**7:29 pm.**

  
She calls Tobin late that night trying her best to voice her fears without her voice shaking or breaking before drifting off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments? Questions? Concerns? Ideas? Likes? Dislikes?  
> \- Write what you thought. - Feedback is always appreciated. -  
> :)


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